Spring.



ESHEBTFSHEET 1.

INVENTOR:

PATENTBD AUG. 11, 1908.

P. J. NEATB. SPRING. APPLICATION FILED MAYIB, 1905..

illlllllll WITNESSES' P. .TQNBATE.

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APPLICATION r; 2n HAY 18,1906.

1 Jam PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908.

2 snnzrsisaznr 2 INVENTOR:

PERCY JOHN NEATIB, or ROCHESTER, ENGLAND.

SPRING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 11, 1908.

Application filed. May 1-8, 1906. Serial Np. 317,631.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Pnnor JoI-I'N NEATE, of Belsize, atte avenue, Rochester, in the county of Kent, England, engineer, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Springs, of which the following is a specification. i

This invention relates to springs of the coiled type and particularly to those of vo- 'op ose each ot lute form and has for its object to overcome the objectionable features of the ordinary coiled spring where the ends rest upon supports, in which case nearly a whole coil at each end has to abut or rest upon the support with a resulting loss of resiliency in the (porcad tions so resting, technically termed the ends, the said ortions also taking space which renders t e use of short springs objectionable owing to the ineflicient ends forming a large proportion of the whole.

The present invention relates to a construction of s ring and means for mounting it, in the re erred form of which the dead ends are a most entirely eliminated, so that practically the whole spring is resilient.

In carrying the invention into effect I provide a spring which is referably constructed of two coils, formed oi a continuous strip or bar'of metal, the coils bein arranged side by side with their axes suitably spaced apart, and having a connecting ortion at one end which refer-ably passes 0 li uely or tangentially rom one coil to anot er. The coils may be cylindrical, conical or flat and in either of the latter cases, the tangential portion preferably passes from the outermost convolution of one coil to the outermost con volution of the other. I have found that if such a spring he in effect loaded at or near the connecting ortion, the stresses mutually l er so that such stresses may alanced, and the coils do not tend to displace themselves. In this construction ractically the entire end of each coil is resi ient. Preferably the spring is loaded at its opposite end as near the axis of each coil as con venient, and for this reason the end of each coil is preferably carried to a point as near the axis of the spring as is ractical. My invention hence comprises tlie combination of such a s ring with a means for loading it which wi 1 effect the desired result.

vention; Fig. 3 is an elevation illustrating the spring of Fig. 1 when stressed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 3 illustrates a conical spiral or volute spring unstressed; Fig. 4 is a view partly-in section illustrating the method of mounting the spring shown in Fi 3; Fig.

5 shows an elevation of a helical spring illustrating the method of loadin and Fig. 6 shows a plan of the s ring of Fig. 5.

Referring first to igs. 1 and 2, let C, C' designate the two coils of a spring which are connected b Y a tangential or oblique ortion B. Prefera )ly in this type of sprin t 1e portion B joins the outermost convo ution of each coil. The inner end of each coil is preferably brought as near as possible to the axis of the coil as indicated at A. This type of spring is normally flat and is intended to be loaded so that under a stress the coils assume a more or less conical form. In Fig. 2 is shown the referred method of loading such a. sprin T 1e spring is supported referably on its under side by an abutment which takes approximately the position of the arrow X, t

at is to say at or near the connecting portion B while the load is applied to the axial portions A, A approximately as indicated by the arrows Y,- 1

In Fig. 3 wherein a normally extended spring is shown, a similar method of loading is bestadopted. In this case the stress of the load tends to flatten the spring.

In. Fig. 4 I have shown a means for loading the spring of Fig. 3 which corresponds to that diagrammatically shown in the latter figure. In Fig. 4, Z indicates a suitably formed plate havin a recess Z in which the spring is placed lVithin the recess are formed two supporting points or abutments Y, Y which are adapted to contact with the end portions A, A of the coils as shown. The abutment X is shown as contacting with the tan ential or oblique portion B. The abutment K may bear against substantially the entire connecting portion B or several abutments spaced apart may be used with like effect. It is obvious that the abutment or abutments may bear against such portion at any part ofthe latter as at the oints of juncture between the portion B an the uppermost convolutions of the coils. Fig.- 4. as being compressed to its limit so that it isiin a flat condition. At the same time it is actively resilient and tends to move the abutment X outwardly. As thus mounted the stresses on the coils tend to normally bal-- The spring is shown in ance each other so that the spring maintains its normal position during the conditions of use. It is ordinarily not even necessary to fix it to either of its supports. It is quite ob vious that instead of using the raised abut-- mentsY, Y, thespring could be permitted to lie against a flat plate. Under these conditions the effective points of support would remain at the points Y, Y so that when the spring was slightly extended itwonld contact substantially only at these points. The same is true of the abutments X. If a flat plate were used and the spring were compressed into the condition shown in Fig. 4, such plate' might contact with the entire side of the spring. However, upon a very slightextension the efiective abutment would become the part of the plate which was in contact with the portion B or the parts near such portion. It will therefore be seen that there is no necessity of forming the ends of the coils so that they are ilat or dead since the spring is adequately Supported on the three points mcntione and does not become distorted or unnniformly stres ed.- t should be noted in this connection that the support X should not be so shaped as to contact with any considerable proportion of the ends of the coils when the latter are extended. If the support X be so shaped, or be formed of material which permits the spring to embed itself so as to practically contact with the entire end of each coil in the extended position of the spring, such coils become practically dead and the advantages of the invention are either wholly or partly lost.

Referring to Figs. 5 and 6 which show my invention as applied to a spring composed of two helical coils. it will be noted that the same modeof loading the spring is availed of. The arrows Y, Y indicate the position of the load at one end of the spring, and the arrow X indicates the position of the support of the other end of the sprin .W'hile I have illustrated several forms of springs which'are suitable for use in connection with my invention, it will be understood that the latter is applicable to torsional springs of any known ty e, either formed in '50 one piece or joined sc-lid v together, so that each spring will counterbalance the torque at being actually dead. Preferably the so called dead ends of the springs are entirely omitted so that the full advantage of the invention'mam. gained. It will also be understood that slTouldit not-be convenient to place the points of support equidistantly, the stiffness of the respective coils may be varied to suit the proportion of the total load which each of the coils is ret uired to carry. It will also be understood tiat the bar or strip of metal from which the coils are formed may be of any desired cross-section, such as circular, oval, rectangular or the like. Such bar may also be tapered or narrowed from the junction to the termination of the coils as desired. In volute or conical springs it is desirable to taper the bar or strip in such manner that the torsional strength of any oint shall be proportional to its distance rom the axis of the coil.

What I claim is:-

1. The combination of a s )ring composed of two single coils connectet together by a portion extending obliquely from one coil to the other, so that such coils lie substantially on opposite sides of said oblique portion, and means for mounting such spring :ncluding an abutment adapted to bear substantially entirely against said oblique portion when the spring is extended.

2. The combination of a s n'ing composed of two single coils connected together bv a portion extending obliquely from one coi to the other so that such coils lie substantially on opposite sidcs of said oblique portion, each of said coils having its opposite. end ex tended to or near its axis, and means for mounting such spring comprising abutmcnts acting against the axially extended ends of the coils and an abutment acting substantially entirely against said oblique )ortion when the spring is extended so as tolm substantially out of contact with the convolutions of the coils.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto si ned my name in the presence of two subscri )ing witnesses.

\Vitnesses:

[IEXRY ALLEN Pm'oa,

the junction as if it were a dead end without ROBERT MILTON Srnmrom'r. 

